Traveling with a baby? Yes, sir!!!

Ever since Patrick was born, my mind has been racing with thoughts of all the trips we'll take together. I've always read about it and imagined my kids traveling with us, so the excitement of finally putting it into practice is incredible! <3

The routine of the first 3 months was tough, as everyone warned us, but as soon as we noticed an improvement, we thought about hitting the road. Furthermore, as we decided moving to Portugal in June/18, we thought about taking a farewell trip to the island that welcomed us so well. We know that we will return to this special place many times, after all we have a lot of affection for the country and the people we met, but we felt the need for one last trip as residents, you know?

Road map

Well then. So we set off. We rented a car in Dublin and from there we drove clockwise through the South, Southwest and West of the island, passing through places we didn't know, such as Waterford, Mizen Head and a part of the Ring of Kerry.

The pace was definitely slower than all the other trips we've taken, but I found it so nice to see our little cutie with us in the hotels and attractions that I was certain that traveling with children is a MUST. Here's a summary of what to look out for when taking care of your child: baby during our trip:

Our care for Paddy

1. We chose to he sleeps in bed with us, even though many people were against it for safety reasons. We put him between us when the hotel only had one giant double bed and when it had two, I slept with him in one bed and Celo in the other, making a barrier of pillows so he wouldn't roll over and fall out of bed. He was almost 4 months old and was already able to turn his head well and almost roll over, so we didn't think it was that dangerous, but it's up to each person to decide.
2. We gave shower same, with Celo under the water holding him and me cleaning him without having to hold him. We had a folding bathtub at home that we could take with us, but we decided to try the shower and not take so much trouble with us. It was interesting!
3. Thank God, the breast-feeding It's been working really well since he was born, so there was no need to bring formula, bottles, sterilizers, etc. We just had to breastfeed him whenever he wanted and the hunger/thirst problem was solved! Oh, and we're following the EASY method (eat, activity, sleep, you), so you could get an idea of when he needed to nurse or sleep.
4. I was very unsure about the amount of items I should take for 4 days and I ended up sinning by excess, I confess. I took an average of 5 outfits a day, in case of leaks, as well as blankets, towels, socks, coats, hats/caps, a huge pack of diapers, lots of wet wipes, the hygiene kit, Vitamin D, liquid Calpol (in case he had a fever), Nose Frida (to suck any dirt from his nose) and his favorite toys.
5. Oh, we also took the car seat (baby seat) and cart, right? And about this I want to leave a warning here: I read in many places about the dangers of leaving babies in the baby seat for more than 1h30, as they run the risk of suffocating because they do not yet have full control of their head. We put together the itinerary taking this information into consideration, that is, we drove for a maximum of 1h30 or when it was necessary to drive for longer, we made some stops along the way so he could get out of the car seat.
6. Since he can easily sleep anywhere, he ended up taking his naps in the car or during walks, but sometimes he needed to be rocked to sleep so he wouldn't stay awake for more than 3/4 hours.

The hardships of the trip

There was one day of the trip when he didn't sleep much during the day (Sunday – Ring of Kerry), because we made several stops, and the night was horrible! We had to drive around with him in the early hours of the morning, because we were staying at a B&B and didn't want to wake everyone up with him crying. Lesson learned: our baby only sleeps well at night when he sleeps well during the day.  Living and learning.

I think that’s it, folks…

If you want to know more about this spectacular trip we took through Ireland, access this post super detailed and with wonderful photos.

See you next time!